Shh
by CrazyRedQueen
Summary: Regina starts to get plagued by nightmares of her past. It's all due to some monster that is preying on her. No one, not even Gold, seems to know what it is. But Maleficent does, and she'll do anything to help her beastie. -ON HOLD-
1. Chapter One

**Shh**

 **Summary: Nightmares plagued Regina every night, forcing her to remember her painful past. Until now, she hadn't dreamt of her past for years so why is she now?**

Chapter One:

A pained scream penetrated the air, alarming birds in the area and awaking a young boy. Said boy shot up from his bed in shock at being awoken from his slumber. He sleepily looked around his blue-themed room in confusion until his hearing adjusted to the now and he heard the on going screams again.

As quick as he could, he got out of his bed and followed the sound to the room across from his. His mother's room. He tried to open the white door, before realising it was locked. Panicked, he urgently pounded on the door with his small fists, yelling at the woman on the other side to open the door.

When he came to the conclusion that she either couldn't unlock it or didn't hear him over her own screaming, he ran back to his own room and grabbed his phone. He turned it on and squinted at the sudden brightness. Once his eyes had adjusted, he unlocked it and went straight to his contacts list.

oOoOoOo

Much like the young boy, another person was awoken from her slumber on the other side of town. Though this woman was awoken by the sound of her phone ringing and the glare of the screen now lighting up the room.

She reached an arm out to reach for the phone that woke her. She sighed before pressing answer and putting it to her ear to see what was so urgent that she had to be dragged from her sleep of hot guys and fairytales.

"Mom! Mom, help! You have to come to Regina's house, right now, she's in trouble!" The second she heard her son's voice coming from the phone in a panicked tone, she was out of bed and putting on her clothes. "Henry, Henry, calm down and tell me what's going on," she ordered, holding her hand out in front of her even though she knew he couldn't see her.

She was putting on her well-known, red jacket when her son replied in a calmer tone, obviously having listened to her instructions. "It's my mom, Emma, she's screaming and yelling. She woke me up with it but I can't get in her room, the door's locked!" His voice had now become notably distressed as he asked for her help.

Now that she listened more intently, she realised he could hear the faint sound of screaming in the background of the phone call. She informed Henry she'd be there in five minutes maximum but to stay on the phone so he could update her on what was going on.

He readily agreed and remained on the phone with her as he listened to his mother's pained yells.

oOoOoOo

Emma was running up the steps to the Mayor's mansion when she heard the sound of something smashing, not only through the phone but from her position on the porch. Henry yelped and she frantically told him where she was and to open the door.

She ended the call when she heard him running down the long stairs to the door.

The door swung open and she was greeted with the sight of her son, tears dripping down his face and his brow furrowed. She immediately hugged his smaller form and asked him to lead her to his other mother's room. He nodded as he began to tell her what had happened since he was woken up.

They stopped outside the door of Regina's room and stared at each other. She took a step forward and tried the handle before remembering it was locked. "Why is nothing ever easy, anymore?" She asked, more to herself than Henry. He chuckled a bit, even with the situation, at his biological mother's humour.

When they looked back at the door, they suddenly realised that the house was silent. They stared in horror at the door, wondering whether they should go in or not.

Emma took her gun out of its holster, moved Henry behind her, and with a count of three in her head, she kicked the door open.

As she moved in, the first thing she saw was the disappearing shadow of an unusual, large creature. She stared in shock at where it had once stood. She hadn't gotten a good look at it because it was already almost gone when she entered the room, but it still scared the hell out of her.

Snapping out of her shock, she looked away from where the thing had been, and looked at the bed it had stood by. On the bed sat a disheveled woman. Her hair hung down in her face and she had her knees draw in to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them.

Her eyes stared unseeing in front of her, seemingly at the bed she sat on, but not. She looked to be in another world, a world where only pain existed and everyone had their own traumas.

Scanning the room, she saw the thing that had previously smashed. It was a glass vase. The flowers and water now littered the wooden floor.

She turned to Henry and told him to stay put, not only so he didn't cut his feet, but because she didn't want him to see Regina in the state she was in.

He lingered outside the door, watching as she slowly walked forward to the now rocking woman.

Glass crunched beneath her feet as she stopped next to the bed and tentatively reached out a hand to place on her shoulder.

When she was millimeters away from contact with the brunette, said brunette's hand reached out and grabbed her own.

Her arm tensed as it was taken ahold of, and she weakly tried to pull away. Regina turned to look at her with her unseeing eyes. When their eyes locked, they stared at each other in a tense silence for a moment before Regina lashed out like a rabid dog. She wore a snarl on her face and her eyes showed barely with held fury as her free hand reached up and clamped around Emma's throat.

She was pinned against the wall with force and from the corner of her eye, she saw Henry rush into the room. She quickly held out her hand to signal him to stay where he was and not come any closer just in case Regina hurt him too.

She moved her eyes back to her attacker's own eyes and she waited with baited breath for her to say something, anything.

When it seemed like she wasn't going to, Emma went to move a hand up to try and remove Regina's from her throat which would surely bruise in the morning.

"What do you continue to torture me? To cause me unbearable pain?" Regina whispered, her voice breaking half way through the sentence. Emma's eyes moved over to Henry in confusion, but he seemed just as dumbfounded. "Regina?" Emma asked, looking into her eyes for some semblance of the woman she had just begun to befriend. The woman didn't reply, only continue to speak to some imaginary enemy that, for once, wasn't Emma, "why am I never enough? I tried to be your perfect, but I never will be, will I, mother? I'll never be your perfect girl, you'll never love me for who I am..." She trailed off at the end as her face went from angry to distraught in seconds.

Now looking a little bit more focused, she stared into Emma's eyes and looked conflicted. She seemed to make her mind up on something and whispered as she placed her finger to her lips, "shh, they'll hear you... Emma."

Her hand slipped from the sheriff's throat and she took a few steps back before ultimately collapsing on the wooden floor of her bedroom.

Both Henry and Emma stared at her as she slipped into what was hopefully a peaceful slumber. They turned to look at each other instead in shock and confusion at the, now, early morning's events. "What the hell just happened, kid?!" The blonde asked her son in disbelief.

oOoOoOo

 **A/N: So, this is what my sleep deprived mind came up with while listening to heavy metal and drinking an energy drink at 3-4am. Next time I'll stay away from the Monster.**

 **Tell me what you think, whether I should continue or not, if you even liked it, actually. Lol. I'm going to sleep now.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Shh**

Chapter Two:

No longer than half an hour later, both Emma and Henry had gone down the stairs to the sitting room and had soon passed out from exhaustion on separate couches.

They were dreading the conversation with Regina when she woke up. Emma knew she would _not_ be happy when she saw the Saviour asleep on her couch. And she would be even more displeased when they told her what had transpired during the night/ early morning.

Mother and son had only gotten around five hours sleep, when they were both woken up by the sound of feet running down the stairs and the entering the lounge.

In the door way stood an out of breath and frantic Regina. Her features went from panicked to annoyed, yet relieved, when she saw the guilty looking duo now awake in her lounge.

She raised an eyebrow and stuck out a hip as she crossed her arms and stared at the sheriff getting up from her couch.

Henry watched nervously as his biological mother aproached his adoptive one.

She stopped when she was in front of the Mayor. She took a quick note of the woman's ragged, tired appearance and how tired she looked. _I wonder how long this has been going on_ , she wondered quietly to herself.

"Look, Regina, I know how this may look and what you may be thinking, but that's not how it is. I came over here last night because Henry called me, he was really worried, and scared, for you," Emma began, noticing a flicker of concern pass the brunette's features. She guessed it was because she had mentioned Henry being scared for her. "He said you were screaming and you had woken him up, and he couldn't get to you cause your bedroom door was locked," she finished. The Mayor now looked even more royally pissed than she had when she first found them in her sitting room.

She uncrossed her hands and moved them to her her stomach instead as she stood up straighter in what Emma had come to know was what she did when she was anxious or worried. "Thank you, Miss Swan, you can leave now. Henry get ready for school," Regina ordered them both as she turned and started to walk away.

As much as Emma wanted to leave the situation, she couldn't. She supposed it was the stubbornness she had gotten from her mother that made her reach out for her newfound friend. She took ahold of the brunette's wrist and spoke, "no, Regina, you don't get to do this. We're just starting to become friends and I'll be damned if I let a friend go through something like this on their own. Whatever _this_ is..." Regina had tensed the second Emma had grabbed hold of her wrist, but she now seemed to be relaxing, "you look like you haven't slept in weeks and now that I think about it, you've been more on edge than usual. Please, tell me what's going on so I can help you," Emma was practically begging at this point as she held the woman's smaller wrist in her hand.

Regina stared at the hand holding her wrist then looked up to the sheriff's eyes. "Let go of me, Miss Swan, and leave. I'm sure you can find your way out," despite the fact that she wanted to push the former Queen for answers, she knew she wouldn't get any so against her better judgement, she let go.

Once she released her wrist, the other woman moved out of the sitting room quickly and headed up the stairs to her room.

"What do we do now?" She sighed when she heard Henry's voice and she turned to him. "If your mom finds out, she's gonna kill me, but we're going to Gold's. Forget school for today, I need you to tell him what you saw and heard last night," her son smiled when she told him this, probably already thinking of a code name for this 'operation'.

oOoOoOo

 **A/N: Soo, here's chapter two. I just want to make sure everyone knows this isn't a SwanQueen story but a DragonQueen one. After the part where Emma had hold of Regina's wrist, I can see how some people would get some SQ vibes, but I promise this is DQ :) I just love 'em.**


	3. Chapter Three

**Shh**

Chapter Three:

Emma's yellow Bug drove down the roads of Storybrooke, whilst she and Henry sat in the front seats. Worry replaced their normally happy expressions as they both thought of Regina and the previous night's events.

The Bug pulled to a stop at the curb outside of Gold's antique store. Before getting out, both passengers checked the area for any sign of Regina, or even the Charming's. Emma knew what they were like, they didn't know the definition of secrecy.

As Henry and Emma exited the vehicle and neared the door to the shop, they heard a yell to the left of them. "Emma!" They stopped next to the door and the Saviour muttered an, "oh my god," to herself and plastered a fake smile on her face as she turned to the two people she had _definitely_ wanted to avoid on this 'mission'.

Snow and David both lightly jogged towards mother and son so they would reach them quicker. "Emma, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work? And Henry should be at school," Snow said as her features went from worry to curiosity. "And why are you going to Gold's? Is something wrong? What's happened?" She further questioned and David put his hands on his hips as he waited for either Emma or Henry to answer his wife's questions.

Henry looked up at his mother with an expression that said 'caught'. The Saviour sighed and turned to her own mother, attempting to explain, "look, we don't have time, we have to speak to Gold now," she tried to go into the shop only to be grabbed by her father. "Emma, if everyone's in danger again, we need to know so we can help," David told her as he looked at her, trying to find any sign of fear or worry.

Seeing nothing, he let go of her arm and waited for her to explain. "It's Regina.. I think she's in trouble, something is after her," Emma reluctantly told her parents. They both sceptically looked at each other, wondering what could have made her think such a thing. "Why do you think that, Emma? What could be after her?" Snow asked after seeing the distressed look her daughter was giving. "Look, I'll explain when we're in Gold's. I don't wanna have to explain twice," she said and with that, she entered the shop.

oOoOoOo

The Dark One looked up from polishing one of the antiques in the shop and grinned when he saw the 'happy, happy, family'.

Emma walked straight up to the counter and placed both hands on it, leaning forward a little bit, "we need your help, Gold," she said. Gold put down the antique and the cloth he had been using to polish it. Giving a little laugh, he asked, "what can I help you with, Saviour?"

"It's Regina. Something happened." Emma was sure she saw something akin to concern in his eyes for a moment, but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared.

"What happened?" Emma and Henry told Gold and the Charming's what happened the night Henry had called her asking for help. Henry told what happened before she got there and Emma informed them of what she saw when she entered the bedroom, and what Regina had said to her before collapsing.

The Dark One's brows furrowed in confusion and he walked from behind his counter towards a safe. He input the code of the safe using his magic then manually opened it. Inside was the Dark One dagger on the top shelf, then below it, a book. The book was wrapped securely in black silk fabric. Gold took the book out and flipped through it. He eventually came to a page with a singular drawing in the top right corner and only a little bit of writing below it. Unfortunately, the writing was in a language neither of them could read.

Gold turned the book towards Emma and pointed to the drawing. "Is this what you saw that night?" He asked.

"I think so, it was only a brief glance, but yeah," Emma peered closer at the drawing and looked at the creature. At first she didn't notice it, but after a second glance, she saw at the creature's foot, some kind of person. "Is that a body?" She questioned.

"No, that's someone under the creature's spell. They're asleep," Gold informed her. "Look, I don't know much about this subject, but I know someone who does."

"Who?" Snow eagerly asked. If there was anything she could do to help her stepmother, she'd do it.

"Maleficent. She knows a lot about ancient demons such as this, and this is a subject she's particular fond of."

"The where is she? Neither of us has seen Maleficent since she was reunited with her daughter. We've seen Lily around, yeah, but not Maleficent. Is she even in Storybrooke anymore?" Emma asked.

"Of course she is. She's been staying at Granny's," Gold told them.

"How did we miss that?" Henry asked with a laugh.

"She's a dragon, she likes to stay hidden," Gold told his grandson. "Take this book to Maleficent and tell her Regina is in trouble. She'll definitely help if she knows the Queen is in danger," he smirked and let out a laugh at whatever he was thinking. He slid the book over the counter to Emma. She warily took it and looked at him in suspicion. "Thank you?" She said, but it came out as more of a question. Gold nodded at her in a _you're welcome_ gesture.

"So what do we owe you?" David spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything comes with a price with you."

"Ah. Consider this on the house," Gold said and rested his hands on his cane.

"What? Why?" Snow asked, looking from David to Gold in confusion.

"If this creature is after Regina, then we've got much bigger problems than the price for helping you out," Gold sighed.

"What does that mean?" Emma questioned him seriously.

"You'll see. But I warn you, when Regina fights back against this monster, you don't want to be here."


	4. Chapter Four

**Shh**

 **A/N: I apologise for anything that might be incorrect in the area of Granny's BB because I don't remember whether you have to go through Granny's diner to get there or go around. Again, apologies.**

 **Also, this is a long chapter to make up for the fact that I haven't updated in a while.**

Chapter Four:

When they were done with Gold, the Charming's, and Emma and Henry rushed out of the store and piled into Emma's tiny Bug (much to her dismay). She drove away from the antiques store, heading for Granny's.

Once there, Emma wasted no time in climbing out of her car. She embraced the freedom after being trapped in her car with her overbearing parents and sighed. She waited for the other three to leave the car, too, before leading the way to into the diner.

The group hastily walked through the busy diner, straight through the back and found a staircase leading to the bed and breakfast.

The four made their way up the stairs and through an old fashioned decorated hallway until they got to one of the end doors. Number nine was engraved onto a golden platter and stuck on the door.

Emma shared a look with the others before gathering the courage to knock on the door. She was unsure of the reaction she would get when the door was opened, being with Snow and Charming, and all, but it had to be done she decided.

No longer than a minute later, the door was opened and in the doorway stood Maleficent herself. Her golden hair was neatly set on her shoulders and she has a grey hat on top. She wore grey business trousers and a white blouse tucked into it.

The dragon eyed Emma, Snow, and Charming with disdain, but her look softened when she reached Henry.

Maleficent faced Emma, "how can i help you, Sheriff?" She asked.

"It's Regina. She's in trouble. There's some kind of monster preying on her and not even Gold knows what it is. He said you might, though," Emma briefly explained.

Something almost familiar flashed in the dragon's eyes and she nodded mutely, stepping aside to let them in.

oOoOoOo

Nearly an hour later, the Charmings, Emma, Henry, and Maleficent left the latter's room at Granny's.

Maleficent held some kind of rolled up piece up paper in her left hand and a vial in her right. She led the way out of Granny's.

When they left the BB, Maleficent walked over to her car and ordered the others to get in as it was much bigger than Emma's bug.

Once they were all piled in, Maleficent decided to go over the plan once again.

"Okay, so when Regina goes to bed, Henry will let us into the mansion. We'll then wait until we hear _anything_ that might suggest this creature has come back. I know how to get rid of this thing, so you leave that to me, Saviour," Maleficent pointedly looked at Emma then, referring to her heroics.

"Alright, alright," Emma muttered, causing Henry to snicker next to her.

"Okay, let's go save the Queen," Maleficent said and started driving.

The dragon dropped Henry off at the mansion seeing as school was finished and he was supposed to be home now. The others were taken to Snow and Charming's apartment to further discuss what they would do when they got to the mansion.

oOoOoOo

At nine pm, Snow, Charming, Emma, and Maleficent got a mass text message from Henry saying that Regina had gone to bed now.

They all simultaneously agreed they'd take Maleficent's car again for the drive to the mansion.

The four piled into the dragon's car and headed straight for Regina's. It wasn't a long ride, but it was tense. Neither of them knew what to expect. Not even Emma, who'd seen the monster before.

Eventually, they all arrived at the mansion and Emma texted Henry to tell him they were outside so they wouldn't have to knock the door and risk waking Regina.

From outside, they could hear the soft pattering of Henry coming down the stairs. He unlocked the door carefully and swung the door open to let them in.

They all entered the house and took off their shoes so they would be quiet on the wooden floor.

Henry then led them upstairs to his room to be closer and hear anything from Regina's room.

Maleficent took a seat on the chair Henry had by his computer whilst the others sat on Henry's bed.

The dragon put her elbows on Henry's desk and then her head in her hands, deep in thought.

It was true that she'd encountered this monster before. It was with an old friend of hers, but unfortunately, she found out too late and even with her exensive research, she lost her friend to it.

The creature doesn't just prey on your dreams and give you nightmares, it drains your life energy and replaces all good feelings with negative ones such as anger, paranoia, sadness, etc.

"Are you alright, Maleficent?" Henry asked when he saw she was deep in concentration.

She looked over in his direction briefly and nodded with a small smile. Truthfully, she was trying to find a way to save Regina without losing her. She didn't want a repeat of what had happened with her other friend. She couldn't lose Regina.

As Maleficent's mind was taking a dangerous path, thinking of all the things she'd do to the monster when she caught it, a low, gutteral growl and smashing sound had her standing up and facing the direction of the Queen's bedroom which was across the hall from Henry's.

All five of them got up and exited Henry's room and walked to Regina's bedroom door.

Maleficent tried to open it but found it locked. It was strange because Regina didn't usually lock her bedroom door just in case.

The dragon waved a hand and the door was suddenly unlocked. Henry shot Emma a look with a smile, causing his mother to roll her eyes.

With a deep breath, Maleficent entered the room only to almost get hit in the face with a flying book. She dodged out of the way in time and looked behind her when it was obvious someone else had been hit by it. Charming had been hit by the book when she'd dodged and was now nursing his nose.

Not bothering to apologise or see if he was okay, she turned back to the scene before her.

Objects from around Regina's room were flying around, hence the book, there was a thin black smoke on the floor and Maleficent avoided stepping into the room for that reason.

Regina was thankfully still in her room in bed, but Maleficent was shocked and scared to see there was one large creature and three other smaller versions of it crouched around the bed, hovering over the Queen.

One of the smaller, pitch black creatures spotted the five of them hovering in the doorway and hissed at them before disappearing in a black smoke.

The two other smaller ones disappeared two when it saw them, but the larger one stayed. It turned to them slowly and crawled off the bed, making its way over to them.

It stopped in front of Maleficent and drew itself up to its full height which was only a head taller than Maleficent herself.

It leaned down to the dragon and seemed to be studying her. Maleficent stayed stock still, afraid that if she did anything, even breathe, it would attack.

Finally, the thing seemed to have had enough of her and it hissed loudly before going back over to a still sleeping Regina. At least, Maleficent hoped she was sleeping.

Gathering courage, Maleficent turned to Snow and called her over quietly. The princess obeyed and stepped up to the doorway with Maleficent.

As Maleficent was about to speak to Snow, the monster hissed again and Regina sat up in the bed with eyes wide and cloudy.

Looking down at the black smoke on the ground and back up at the creature circling her Queen, Maleficent made the decision to just enter the room and do what she can

With a deep breath, Maleficent stormed into the room, ignoring the deep feeling of sadness that now overwhelmed her for some reason.

The monster turned its featureless face towards her and slowly backed away with each step Maleficent took towards it and Regina.

By now the sadness was something she couldn't ignore. It was slowly growing in her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes. Still, she continued her way to Regina.

Finally, she was next to Regina's bed, facing the creature that was on the other side of it. Slowly, she layed a hand on Regina's shoulder, causing the thing to growl lowly at her.

She merely stared back at the thing, not making a move to back away. The monster put a long hand on the bed as if it was going to climb back on, but it removed it almost as soon as it had put it there.

All Maleficent did was blink and when she opened her eyes, the creature was gone and everything that had been floating in the air had fallen to the ground. The smoke had thankfully been lifted and the feeling of sadneas that had been growing had now dulled.

Maleficent looked to Regina and took her hand off her shoulder, the Queen hadn't moved a muscle from her upright position. She still stared ahead with unblinking, cloudy eyes.

Maleficent walked around the bed and took a seat next to her Queen, replacing her hand on her shoulder.

They stayed that way for only a few minutes before Regina blinked and turned to look at Maleficent. She stared at the dragon silently, until she spoke in a whisper, "please," she begged, "stop."

With that, she closed her eyes and fell back onto her bed, rejoining the land of slumber.

Getting up off the bed, Maleficent looked to the side to compose herself for a moment before walking over the others.

"We should stay here tonight to make sure that thing doesn't come back," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I agree, we need to make sure she stays safe," Emma nodded.

"Exactly. I'll stay in here," Maleficent informed and closed the door without hearing another word from the others.

She could tell the were still stood outside the door with confusion but she didn't care.

She walked back over to the bed and slowly sat on it. She moved a few hairs out of the Queen's face and then ultimately lay down next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist in a sign of comfort.


	5. Chapter Five

**Shh**

Chapter Five:

"Maleficent!? What the hell?!" A cry came from upstairs, causing Emma, Henry, Snow, and David to jump from the couches they'd been sleeping on.

With a sigh, knowing what was about to go down, they all ran through the house and bounded up the large stairs, heading for Regina's room where shouting was coming from.

They all ran down the hallway until they came to Regina's door which was closed. All eyes turned to Emma, indicating they wanted her to open the door. She gulped and knocked on the door before slowly opening it.

They arguing immediately ceased and as the four entered, they saw Regina staring at the doorway in anger. "Why are you all in my house?" She growled lowly, clearly having to refrain from throwing a fire ball at them all. "Um, well, after Henry called me here the other day when you were having... troubles, so to speak," Emma started slowly and cautiously, "me and Henry went to Gold with what happened and he said he didn't know what was going on, but he said Maleficent would," at this, Regina looked to the woman she'd found in her bed.

"We came here last night and Henry let us in," Maleficent continued for Emma, "it's a good job we came here because if we didn't, we might have lost you," she said, her voice full of emotion and clear longing. "Regina, you're being prayed on by 'Night Creatures'. That's not their actual name, it's just what I call them because there's no actual record of them anywhere. No one knows what they are. But I do. A long time ago... I lost a close friend to them because I didn't know she was being prayed on by the Creatures and when I finally found out, it was too late," Maleficent told her, watching her eyes shift uncomfortably.

Moving around the bed to meet Regina on the other side, Maleficent took her hands in her own, "I don't want to lose you, Beastie... Not to these foul Creatures. Please, let us help you," she begged, lifting a hand to gently cup Regina's cheek. Regina herself looked down to Maleficent's other hand holding hers and seemed to be making a decision.

With a shake of her head, Regina pulled her hand away from Maleficent's and moved away from her, "I don't need your help. Or yours," she said to the other four stood in the doorway. "You can all leave, I have work to do," she said and turned to walk into the en suite.

Maleficent reached out a hand and grabbed Regina's wrist, making the other woman tense before turning around. "No, you do need our help. Regina, you will die. Do you not understand the gravity of this situation?" Maleficent asked, rare tears brimming in her eyes. "I won't let another person I l- care for be lost to these Creatures," she finished.

"Oh, you care for me do you, Maleficent?" Regina chuckled, pulling her wrist from the other woman's grasp. "If you cared for me, you'd leave me alone and let _me_ deal with this. Like I said before, I don't need your help," with that, she turned back to the en suite, entered, and slammed the door behind her.

Maleficent sighed heavily and straightened, turning to the others, "well, I tried," she declared with a false smile, "not much I can do now. She's too stubborn to accept our help," she said and brushed passed the others, out of the room.

Emma, Snow, David, and Henry followed Maleficent, who was increasing her pace to quickly exit Regina's house. Neither of them wanted to face the wrath of Regina if she found out they were still in her house.

As Maleficent finally left the mansion, she was grabbed much like she had done to Regina, only this time it was Emma Swan who did the grabbing. "Wait," Emma exclaimed when Maleficent pulled her arm free and tried to leave. "There's nothing I can do now, Miss Swan," Maleficent told her and started walking away.

"I know how you feel about Regina, you can't leave her to face this alone!" Emma called after her when she was walking down the pavement in the direction of Granny's. She stopped in her tracks, her heart racing. Was it really that obvious how she felt about Regina? She thought to herself. There _was_ that tiny slip up earlier when she almost said she loved her, but she thought no one had noticed.

She turned around to face Emma, "I don't know what you mean," she said with a smile. "You can't lie to me," Emma told her, walking closer to Maleficent, her family following behind her. "You love Regina but you're afraid you'll be rejected because until now, you hadn't spoken to her since the whole Queens of Darkness thing, which makes you think she isn't interested in you," Emma said, reading her like an open book. Maleficent swallowed. "You can't leave Regina to face this alone."

Looking down, Maleficent quickly came to a decision, "you're right. We need to help her, even if she doesn't want it," she nodded. "Follow me, we need to think of a plan," she ordered and started walking off to Granny's again.

Henry quickly trailed after her and caught up, eager to talk to her about her confession. As they walked side by side, Henry couldn't help but smile up at her like a school boy. Maleficent felt him smiling at her and looked down to see his grinning face, "what?" She asked in curiosity. It didn't even cross her mind that he wanted to talk about her love for his mother.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you really love Regina," Henry plainly stated. She looked down at him again, "isn't she your mother?" She replied, ignoring his question for now. Like Regina, she had never been all too good at talking about her emotions. "Yes..." Henry trailed off, confused as to why she was asking a question she already knew the answer to. "Then why are you calling her by her name?"

"I... don't know? I just did, I guess," he said, "hey, don't change the subject! Do you love my mom?" He asked, this time saying 'mom' instead of 'Regina'. Maleficent sighed, "very much so, yes. I've loved her since the day we met."

"Why did you never tell her?" Henry asked with confusion. In his mind, if you loved someone, you told them. You didn't wait nearly a hundred years and still not tell them. "When we met, Regina was only eighteen years old and she was married to the King. Then, she decided to get revenge on your grandmother and she was too lost in revenge to care about love. I guess it was never the right time to tell her," Maleficent told him. She didn't know why, but she felt it was easy to talk to Henry about her love for his mother.

"Wait, my mom was eighteen when she married the King?" Henry questioned in disbelief, "how old was he?" He then asked.

"We're here now, let's get inside," Maleficent said, walking into the diner.

Henry frowned, but followed after her anyways, choosing to forget his previous question in favour of thinking up a plan for _Operation DragonQueen._


	6. Chapter Six

**Shh**

 **A/N: This is the same day Regina found the others in her home.**

Chapter Six:

Regina walked briskly to her car and threw her bag onto the passenger seat as she climbed into the driver's. She was way too tired to be going to work, but she had a lot of papers to get through.

As she started the car, she had to take a moment before she could start driving. She almost passed out, she felt so tired. She felt as if, if she closed her eyes she would fall asleep straight away. After rubbing her eyes and taking a breath, she left her driveway in the direction of Granny's for a large cup of coffee.

The drive felt like it lasted for years, when in reality it only took ten minites. It was like everything was going a lot slower than it should be, like she was driving five mph rather than thirty.

She pulled up outside of Granny's and took another breath before grabbing her bag and leaving her car. She carefully walked up the pathway and entered the diner. When she entered, she got a few strange looks, but the customers soon went back to what they were doing. _That's what I thought,_ Regina thought to herself. Or rather, the evil part of herself did (namely the Evil Queen).

With as much effort as she could muster, she made her way over to the counter and took a seat at one of the stalls. She would need to sit down if she was going to not pass out whilst ordering her coffee.

She only sat for a minute before Ruby came up to her and asked what she wanted. "Two black coffees to go, please," she ordered with a small smile. Ruby jotted her order down despite the fact that she could easily remember it, "you got it," she said and walked off to start making her coffees. Luckily she didn't question Regina ordering two, rather than one, coffee.

Regina leaned on the counter and put her head in her hands as she waited. It was getting extremely hard to stay awake and if she didn't get her coffees soon... Let's just say she wouldn't be happy.

As she was waiting, she felt someone sit on the stall next to her, but she didn't lift her head. "Are you okay?" She heard. She inwardly groaned and slowly lifted her head to look at the person next to her, Maleficent. "I'm fine, thank you," she told her, though it was a blatant lie. Not only did Maleficent know of her recent troubles, but she'd done a bad job at hiding her dark circles with makeup.

At that moment, Ruby came over with her two coffees and she gratefully took them. "Are you meeting someone?" Maleficent asked when she saw the extra coffee. "No, I'm going to work. Why?" Regina replied with confusion. Maleficent merely eyed the extra coffee as her answer. "Oh," Regina said.

"Are you really that tired?" Maleficent questioned with unabashed concern. "What do you think?" Regina snapped, barely able to contain her aggravation at how tired she was. She started drinking her first coffee, downing it like it was the best thing she'd ever tasted.

Maleficent silently nodded at her answer, not even phased by her tone. "You should be careful with how you drink that," she stated, causing Regina to stop drinking the coffee and look at her. "What do you mean?" She asked, now sipping the drink. "It's not exactly the healthiest drink. Nor the safest," she pointed out. Regina merely scoffed and threw the empty coffee cup in the trash when she got up from her hair.

"I need to get to work," Regina told her.

"You're the mayor, you can be late," Maleficent replied.

"I know, but I have a lot of work to catch up on."

"You can do that tomorrow. I'm sure no one will die if you don't get it done today," Maleficent laughed.

"That's true, but I can't," Regina insisted.

"Please. Take a day off. Come to my room, you can take a day to relax."

"They way you're saying it, how do I know we'll be relaxing," Regina chuckled.

"You have my word," Maleficent promised with a smirk.

《》《》

Five minutes later, the two found themselves on the way to Maleficent's room in Granny's. Maleficent had grabbed Regina's hand at some point, but the latter couldn't remember when. Not that she was complaining.

Maleficent unlocked the door to her room and lead the Queen inside. As someone who'd never been inside the room, she found herself looking around. It was lavishly decorated, for a room at Granny's, and she noticed that here and there, there were a few random gems littering the place. She smiled at that, happy to know that Maleficent didn't suppress the dragon part of herself when she was human. Nothing had changed, then, she decided.

Said dragon led her over to the bed and waited for her to lie down before joining her. When they were both comfortably situated on the bed, Regina turned Maleficent and caught her silently staring at her. She flashed a brief smile and asked why she was staring. "No reason, beastie," Maleficent said softly, brushing some hair out of Regina's face.

Out of nowhere, Regina found a sudden burst of energy and threw herself at Maleficent. One second she was laying next to her, the next she was saddling her. Maleficent looked as surprised as Regina felt, but that didn't stop the queen. She leaned down and pressed her own lips against Maleficent's plump, red ones. They both closed their eyes, choosing to deepen the kiss further.

This went on for around five minutes before Regina pulled away with a heavy sigh, her rush of adrenaline suddenly gone. It was like a button had been pushed and all of a sudden she felt like even sitting on Mal's thighs took the greatest amount of effort.

Thankfully Maleficent picked up on how tired she was and helped the other woman off of her to lie down again. Mal turned on to her side to face Regina next to her, "sleep, beastie. You needn't be afraid when I'm here. I'll keep you safe, I promise," she reassured. Regina swallowed a lump in her throat and closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take over.

In only seconds, Regina was asleep, proving how tired she had really been, despite her claims. Maleficent sat up on the bed and shuffled backwards until she was leaning against the headboard.

Knowing Regina was in a deep sleep due to exhaustion, she reached over a hand and started stroking her hair in a sign of comfort. Should Regina sleep for days, she would still be there when she woke up, making sure those foul creatures didn't come back.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Shh**

Chapter Seven:

Rumplestiltskin walked down the pathway to the library. He was going to see Belle to see if the first curse had brought over _anything_ that relates to what Emma had told him the other day.

It was a farfetched idea, but Belle spends all most of her time reading and looking after the library so he had hope she would know something.

He came up to the library and walked in, immediately spotting Belle at the counter when he closed the door behind him. Belle looked up from a book she had been reading and smiled happily at him.

He made his way over to the counter, using his cane for support, and greeted her.

"What can I do for you, Rumple?" Belle asked, already knowing he wanted something because he didn't usually come to see her at work unless he did.

"It seems the Mayor is in a bit of trouble," he started off, recalling everything Emma Swan had told him.

Once he had finished informing Belle of what was going on, she looked both surprised and slightly disturbed at the fact there was a creature that could prey on you whilst you're sleeping.

"That sounds awful," she said, "Regina must be going through a lot right now."

"Indeed. That's why I wanted to know if you have any books or anything that might help us figure out what this creature is or how to get rid of it," he asked in what could only be described as desperation. To Belle, it was odd how much Rumple cared for Regina, but she didn't question it.

Ready to help in any way, she questioned, "what does this thing look like?"

Rumple gave Belle the description Emma had given him a dew days ago, the words still fresh in his mind. Belle involuntarily shivered and started walking over to an area of the library where she knew there were several scrolls and books that didn't have titles or covers.

She started going through them, looking for one specific scroll. She knew it was there somewhere, she'd put it there not even a month ago when it had shown up out of the blue.

She reached for a yellowing piece of paper that was rolled up and tied with a piece of thin rope. When she untied the rope and placed it on the side, she unrolled the piece of paper and scanned the text and drawings with her eyes. This was what she was looking for.

Happy she had what she was looking for, she went back over to Rumple. She handed him the scroll, told him it had arrived some time around last month, and asked if that was what he had been describing. Rumple himself looked at the scroll and furrowed his brows. "This is it. I was sure there wouldn't be any written evidence of these creatures, but it seems I was wrong. And I know who wrote it," he spoke with a nod.

"Who wrote it?" Belle asked with curiosity.

"Maleficent." He informed.

oOoOoOo

Regina blinked open bleary eyes and looked around with confusion. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't tired anymore, and the second thing was that she wasn't in her bed. Or her own house for that matter. It looked like a room at Granny's- oh. She must be in Maleficent's room.

She turned to the right to see Maleficent herself sat next to her, leaning against the headboard. The woman seemed to be looking out of the window, lost in her thoughts. Most likely thinking about her, Regina decided.

Regina sat up, joining Maleficent against the headboard. Maleficent turned to look at her, smiling at the fact that she was awake.

Not ready for pleasantries, she asked the question that was bothering her, "did they come?"

"The Night Creatures? No. Not while I'm here, beastie," Maleficent reassured. Suddenly everything came back to her. She was supposed to be going to work but had ended up coming to Maleficent's room instead. Then- oh God, she'd kissed Maleficent. She awkwardly cast her eyes over to Maleficent to see the woman looking at her curiously.

Regina quickly got up off the bed and turned to Maleficent, "I have to go. Henry's probably wondering where I am," she told her with an almost apologetic smile. Maleficent nodded in understanding and got up off the bed. She walked around until she met Regina on the other side and wrapped her in her arms. Regina returned the hug before pulling away and leaving the room altogether.

Except she wasn't going to see Henry, or even go home, no. She didn't know where she was going, but she let her feet lead the way.

She kept walking and walking for nearly an hour, passing some residents of Storybrooke who looked both weary and concerned, until she found herself tredding carefully through the forest near the edge of her town.

As she walked through the forest, careful not to trip on branches or logs, she got an unusual feeling in her chest. It was like she felt both sad and angry at the same time and couldn't decide which emotion to feel. Tears welled up in her eyes and she hastily blinked them away, refusing to cry.

She eventually came up to the well and she slowed down, confused as to why she had walked there. She looked around, making sure she was alone before cautiously moving closer to the well until she was right next to it.

Looking down into the well, she watched as some of the water rippled. Her brows furrowed as the ripples got bigger until they dispersed and then the process repeated. _What the hell?_ She thought. There was no liquids dropping into the well the make ripples, and it was too small and shallow for anything to live inside. Why was there ripples?

Regina placed her hands on the side of the well and leaned over to get a closer look. The ripples were now dispersing abd reappearing quicker now. It was now just a matter of figuring out what was going on. Was something coming out of it? Was there actually something in there?

Out of nowhere, she felt vibrations running through the well, making her hands shake as she held it. She quickly took her hands off of the well, surprised.

Scared, she looked around the forest just to be sure there was no one and nothing there before turning back to the well which seemed to be dispensing black smoke. She covered her mouth and nose with her hands so she wouldn't breathe in the unfamiliar gas.

She started walking backwards when the smoke got closer and closer, almost touching her black boots. When her back hit a tree, she looked back at the well to see that there was now one of the Night Creatures crawling out of the well, like in that horror movie she had once watched with Emma. Her stomach tightened at the sight of the all black, smokey thing with large hands and a featureless face.

She quickly moved away from the tree and continued walking back, trying to poof away but failing miserably. Why wasn't her magic working? She couldn't even access it.

As she was walking back, she noticed the large monster had gained speed and was now shuffling after her with non-human-like speed. She removed her hands from her mouth and nose and turned around to start running, knowing it would soon catch up with her. That fact alone scared the crap out of her, but she knew she had to run, and she had to run now. She started running, letting her legs propell her forwards in the opposite direction of that beast.

She could feel the Night Creature gaining on her until it was right behind her and suddenly there was someone appearing before her in a swirl of black smoke. Maleficent. _How did she know where I-_ Regina couldn't finish her thought because with a force she had never experienced before, the creature that had been chasing her was connecting with her back. But there was no real, physical contact. Her eyes widened and her breath caught when she realised it had gone inside of her.

The look on Maleficent's face when she, too, realised this was heartbreaking. Only an hour ago she had been waking up next to the blonde after she had stayed there making sure she was safe, and now they were facing a new obstacle. This Night Creature was inside of her and she could feel it moving around, testing out its new host, going through her thoughts, emotions, and memories. If having it in her dreams wasn't enough, she now had it inside of her body and mind.

Her body lurched when the Night Creature caused a strain on her heart and she fell into Maleficent's arms. The blonde woman caught her without hesitation and lowered them both to he floor, whispering apologies and reassurances in her ear. If she could see Maleficent's face, she was sure she would be crying.

 **A/N: Oh my- why did I do this? Anyways, this is chapter seven and I hope you enjoyed it.**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Shh**

 **A/N: _Italics_ are thoughts.**

Chapter Eight:

For the second time in what felt like mere hours, Regina opened her eyes to see she was somewhere that wasn't her own home. She looked around her to see she was back in Maleficent's room. _What the hell?_ She thought. _Didn't I just do this?_

Looking around, she saw that this time, she was lone. Maleficent wasn't anywhere in sight. Taking things into her own hands, she got up from the bed she was on and walked over to the window. She pulled back the curtains to look out side, seeing it was pitch black out there. Wasn't it just midday? Strange. She must have been asleep longer than she realised.

She whirled around when the door to Maleficent's room opened. In walked Maleficent, followed shortly by Rumplestiltskin. _Great, what does the Dark One want?_

"Hello, Regina," Rumple greeted, removing one hand from his cane to wave at her. Regina greeted him in return before moving around the room to take a seat on one of Maleficent's chairs.

"What are you doing here, Dark One?" She practically growled at him. Rumple and Maleficent shared a brief look, "I'm here to speak to you about the Night Creature that entered you earlier this evening. Do you remember that?"

"What are you talking about?" Regina replied with disinterest. "Do you not remember what happened in the forest, Regina?" Maleficent questioned.

"Obviously not," she snapped. Maleficent walked towards her and stopped by her side. "Are you okay, little one? You're not acting like yourself," she worried, placing a hand on Regina's shoulder. Regina shrugged the hand off, "get off me, dragon," she ordered, annoyed. Maleficent quickly removed her hand as if burned, hurt flashing through her eyes only momentarily.

"I-I'm sorry, Mal," Regina stuttered, "I don't know what's gotten into me," she stood up and returned to the window, staring out of it and choosing to ignore Maleficent and Rumple's reflection in it.

Maleficent walked over to her and stood just behind her, "it's the Night Creature, beastie. I told you before, I lost a friend to these foul creatures- she became a shell of her former self. I don't want the same to happen to you, that's why me and Rumple are here. To help you," she said in a soft voice, one she knew Regina couldn't ignore.

Regina turned around, "it's just so hard, Mal. I can feel it inside if me, moving around, testing out my emotions and thoughts, looking at my memories. How are we supposed to fight this?" From the corner of her eye, she could see Rumple frown with something akin to pity. "It'll be hard, but I know how. And Rumple is here to help me," Maleficent reassured her. "Pass me the scroll, Rumple," she turned to the man behind her.

oOoOoOo

Emma, Hook, Snow, and Charming stood in the middle of the road they had been crossing. In front of them, not that far away, they could see a black figure. One of the smaller Night Creatures they'd seen when they had helpee Regina.

They were unsure of what to do. Did they get Maleficent? Did they walk away and hope it didn't cause trouble? Or did they fight it themselves? The answer was obvious. They knew Maleficent was currently with Regina and Rumple, and they couldn't leave it there. They would have to fight it.

Carefully, they started walking towards the creature that seemed to be sniffing around for something. It was turning in circles, sniffing the ground. It didn't have a nose, or any other features, but they could only assume that was what it was doing.

When they were close enough, Emma held out a hand and channeled her magic, letting a ball of light magic come out and hover above her palm. Suddenly, the Night Creature looked up and focused its attention on the four stood by it. It stared at them for a moment before Hook urged Emma to use her magic, prompting the Saviour to throw her magic at the Creature.

The Creature barely dodged the ball of light magic in time, but when it did, it started running towards the four. They started backing away in fear, but when the Creature got close enough to attack, it only went around them and started running off in the direction if Granny's where they'd come from.

"Crap, Regina's in there," Emma exclaimed. Her parents ignored her language and agreed, already running after the nightmare-fueled Creature.

oOoOoOo

"Regina!" Maleficent cried, watching helplessly as she teleported away, leaving behind purple smoke. She turned to Rumple who was staring at the spot his former student had once stood.

Before the two could comprehend what had actually happened, or try and locate her, a scratching noise drew their attention. The noise was coming from outside of Maleficent's room. Confused as most people staying at Granny's BB were most likely to be asleep, Rumple turned to the door and opened it.

Outside the door, sniffing the floor. Midnight black smoke rolled off of it in waves and its joints clicked horrifically as it leaned further forward, smelling the floor where Rumple stood.

The Creature looked upwards despite not having eyes and faced Rumple himself. It growled lowly but seemed to have no interest in the Dark One. The thing stalked passed Rumple, entering the room until it came upon Maleficent. It snarled at her and avoided getting too close as it walked further into her room.

It continued sniffing around until it stopped where Regina had stood mere moments ago. It looked like it had realised she was no longer there and it scratched the floor with its long fingers.

Out of nowhere, Emma, Hook, and the Charming's barged into the room, startling the Rumple, Maleficent, and the Creature. The Creature itself hissed at the new arrivals, sensing the threat they posed.

Emma relit the light magic in her palm and threw it at the Creature like she had in the middle of the road. This time, the Creature didn't dodge the oncoming magic. The ball of white light hit it and the others present watched as the magic went inside if it, creating a white light in its chest. The Creature looked down at its chest, looking at the invading light until seconds later, it exploded with a inhuman squeal.

Snow gasped as the black remains of the Creature flew around the room, covering the area it had stood in. Emma gagged whereas Hook covered his mouth and turned away, disgusted. Maleficent looked both annoyed and disturbed at the sight of her room.

"I destroyed it," Emma finally sighed, "maybe Regina will be okay now."

"I doubt it," Maleficent spoke up, "this was only one small part of the Night Creature itself. Easily caught or destroyed whereas the Night Creature it came from is considerably harder to destroy," she informed.

"Great," Charming muttered with a sigh.

"We need to find Regina," Rumple reminded.

"I think I know where she is. Leave that to me," requested Maleficent. The others nodded, leaving her room to go back home and get some rest. They wouldn't tell Henry about what had happened for fear of worrying him.

Before Rumple exited, he turned to Maleficent and caught her by the elbow, stopping her from teleporting away. She looked at him, confused. He took a vial containing a crimson liquid out from his inside pocket, "you asked for this?"

"Ah, yes. I'd almost forgotten. Thank you," she said, taking the vial from him and tucking it into her own pocket, out of sight from anyone that may be looking.

"Use it wisely. I don't have much of it and I'd rather you didn't have to keep coming back for more," Rumple warned her.

"Don't worry. When it comes to Regina, I'm extremely careful," Maleficet replied.

"I bet," Rumple then left her room, shutting the door behind him with the sound of Maleficent poofing away.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Shh**

 **A/N: I almost gave up on this story. I started writing this chapter on the website then tried to continue it on the app, but somewhere along the way, everything I wrote disappeared. I'd almost finished the chapter and had only a few more paragraphs to write so i got really annoyed and almost gave up on the story in general.**

 **I'm glad I didn't because this is one of my favourite stories to write, and i know some of you really like this story, too.**

Chapter Nine:

When Maleficent reappeared in a cloud of smoke, she found herself in a graveyard. She stood by a tree and in front if her was Regina's family mausoleum. Makeficent started walking forward and entered the mausoleum, stopping when she saw Regina's father's coffin. With a wave of her hand, the coffin started moving to the side, revealing the stairs leading to Reginas vault.

Maleficent headed down the stairs to the vault, coming up to a corridor that went two ways- left and right. In front of her and the stairs was a round mirror. She stepped off the stairs and walked up to the mirror. With the wave of her hand, the mirror mirror morphed until it showed something other than her reflection- a live image of Regina.

The Mayor was lay on a large bed in a beautiful room with theme colours of black and white. It was almost impossible to decipher whether or not she was asleep, but after a while, Maleficent realised she was awake.

Taking a step back, Maleficent gripped her staff in her hand and called out, "Regina! Let me in, I know you're in there!" The woman shown in the mirror shifted a bit but other than that, she showed no want to get up and move. Rolling her eyes, Maleficent spoke again, "Regina, I know you can hear me. Let me in," she yelled in an almost stern voice. Regina finally got up from the bed and stood up. She made a gesture with her hand and suddenly, the wall Maleficent was stood in front of moved, sliding across to reveal the exact room Regina was in.

With a smile that was almost smug yet very grateful, Maleficent entered the room and listened as the wall closed again behind her. She watched with focused eyes as Regina glanced at her before walking over to a mirror on the wall, taking in her appearance and fixing up her hair and makeup here and there. Making herself at home, Maleficent walked over to the bed Regina had previously been on and sat down, resting her staff across her crossed over legs.

Maleficent watched Regina for a few more seconds before deciding to talk. "Why did you suddenly disappear earlier?" She asked, referring to Regina poofing away just before the Night Creature appeared. Regina glanced at her in the reflection of the mirror, "I knew it was going to get... messy, so to speak. I didn't want to be there when it did," she smirked a little bit. Maleficent, too, smirked, but it was more for show.

"Is that so?" She questioned, getting a hum in response from Regina. "You see, I seem to remember you having a bit if a knack for destroying monsters. If there was a monster to destroy in your little town, you would do it," she looked at Regina, seeing her reaction. There wasn't a single emotion in her face as she reapplied lipstick. "It just doesn't make a bit of sense to me that, should there be a chance for you to kill one of the Creatures that has been tormenting you for months, you would rather flee," Maleficent said casually, looking at her red painted nails.

"What's it to you, dragon?" Regina snapped. Maleficent only looked over to her in a knowing way. That was the response she had been waiting for. This person in front of her wasn't Regina. Well, it was her physically. But mentally and emotionally? It wasn't her. It was almost impossible to tell Regina apart from the Night Creature inside of her that seemed to be trying to take control of her body. But the difference between Regina herself and the Night Creature was, the Creatures hate dragons. She'd figured _that_ out when she first met them.

The fact that 'Regina' had called her 'dragon' only pointed out the obvious. It wasn't her speaking- it was the Night Creature. Regina must be fighting for control of her own body because every now and then, Maleficent would see a flash of Regina before her eyes hardened and the Creature came back.

Maleficent stood up from the bed, leaving her staff there. She walked over to a small table in the corner of the room that had a tea set on it. "Oh, no reason. I was just curious, little one. It's a bit unlike you," Maleficent pointed out as she started to make both her and Regina a cup of tea. "I suppose so," Regina reluctantly agreed. She continued staring in the mirror, looking intently at her face. Maleficent came to realise it was the Creature looking in the mirror, not Regina. After all, it isn't every day the foul monsters get to take on human form.

Maleficent put in one sugar for both of them before glancing back at Regina to make sure she wasn't looking. With a heavy breath, she took out the vial Rumple had given her and uncorked the crimson liquid. She carefully put a drop of the potion into Regina's tea and closed the vial, putting it back in the inside pocket of her grey coat.

With a spoon, she stirred Regina's tea, watching as it went the same colour as the potion for a moment, then went back to its original creamy colour. Placing the spoon back down, she picked up hers and Regina's drinks and walked over to the Mayor. "Here you are, beastie," Maleficent handed Regina her drink and took a sip of her own.

The other woman finally turned from the mirror when she was handed the tea, and looked at Maleficent, "I prefer coffee," she pointed out.

"I know. Just drink it, for me?" Maleficent requested, giving her a look. Regina herself must have picked up on the way Maleficent was looking at her because without a second thought, she put the cup to her lips and drank some of the tea.

As Regina drank her drink, Maleficent stopped drinking her own and placed the cup down on the side. She walked over to the bed and picked up her staff, turning back to Regina expectantly. Regina looked back with confusion until her expression morphed into one of shock and pain. Her hand flew to her stomach as she gasped, dropping the cup on the floor and letting it smash.

She then dropped to her knees with her hands still wrapped around her torso, her face still twisted in pain. Maleficent carefully walked over to her and crouched next to her. She placed a comforting hand on her back and rubbed in soothing circles, "I'm sorry, beastie," she apologised. Regina barely nodded in response before her eyes widened in surprise and she looked up.

Taking this as her cue, Maleficent stood up and backed away, coming to stand next to the bed again. Tears sprung to Regina's eyes and her mouth fell open slightly. Maleficent then watched as a thick, black mist exited her mouth and gathered on the floor. When all the mist had left her, Regina coughed heavily and breathed in.

The black mist swirled where it was as it grew and grew until before them was one of the Night Creatures- the large on that had been with the three other smaller ones when she, Emma, Henry, and the Charmings had gone to the mansion. It was hunched over and its featureless face 'stared' at her intently. Maleficent minutely gestured with her hand for Regina to come over to her, and, luckily noticing, she did just that. She got up from the floor and slowly made her way over to Maleficent.

The top of Maleficent's staff then started glowing a dark purple. The Creature looked to her staff and curled in on itself with a hissing noise. The magic that had been building in her staff flew out at the Creature. It almost hit it until the Creature disappeared in a black smoke much like The Evil Queen had at Snow and Charming's wedding. Maleficent growled in frustration and threw her staff onto Regina's bed, soon joining it with a huff.

Regina sat down next to her, glancing at her every now and then. She looked down at her hands and coughed almost awkwardly. "Thank you," she finally said, "for, um, getting it out of me." Maleficent looked at her and took one of her hands in her own, "you're welcome, little one," she smiled then let go of her hand.

Regina looked at her with furrowed brows causing Maleficent to look back and chuckle, "what?" She asked.

"I was just wondering... Why do you keep helping me? It doesn't make a bit of sense after everything I've done to you," Regina admitted.

"What do you mean 'everything you've done to me'?" Maleficent questioned, though she knew what Regina meant. "I trapped you underground for thirty years in your dragon form, I stole the dark curse from you, I had you killed by the Saviour, I even tried to kill your unicorn," she let out a watery laugh, looking down at her clasped hands. "Regina... You know I've forgiven you for those things. It's all in the past," Maleficent said with a small smile. She reached over and placed a hand atop of Regina's.

Regina nodded, accepting her answer for now. She wiped away stray tears and looked to the side, away from Maleficent. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Regina, I just told you- I forgive you," Maleficent reiterated. Regina continued staring away from her, "no. I'm sorry for kissing you yesterday," she said with a slight cough at the end. Maleficent merely laughed causing Regina to glare at her, not seeing what was funny. "I'm sorry, dear," Maleficent apologised, "it's just, you sound like you did back in the Enchanted Forest when you were just a girl," she chuckled. "You were so naïve and oblivious," she reminicsed.

"I wasn't naïve nor oblivious!" Regina defended.

"Oh, but you were, little one," Maleficent smirked, "you couldn't see what was in front of you if your life depended on it."

"And what _was_ in front of me, my dear Maleficent?" Regina mocked. Maleficent smiled almost sadly and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, "me," she simply said.

"You?" Regina questioned with confusion. Then it dawned on her. The second meaning behind Maleficent's one-worded answer. She didn't just mean it as a friend, she meant it as a lover. Maleficent loved her. Always had, apparently. "Oh," Regina said. Maleficent nodded slowly, not sure what Regina would say next.

Regina stared at Maleficent, trying to decipher what the other woman was feeling, but it was impossible. The other woman hid her emotions well. She took a deep breath and removed one of her hands from Maleficent's to lift it up to the blonde woman's cheek. Maleficent looked slightly surprised but didn't protest. Feeling slightly more confident, she leaned in and carefully pressed her lips to Maleficent's. Only a second later, Malefient put one of her own hands on Regina's cheek and deepened the kiss.

The two quickly broke apart when a voice started shouting from outside the hidden room. Regina waved her hand and on the mirror, the view from outside appeared. On the mirror, the two could see Snow, Emma, and Charming calling both hers and Maleficent's name. It seemed they were looking for the pair.

Maleficent sighed and picked up her staff, "I guess we should go tell them we're nit dead," she said. As she was about to get up, Regina grabbed her free hand and held her still. "They can wait," she claimed with a smirk. She used her hand to make Maleficent face her. "I was hoping you'd say that," Maleficent replied and leaned in to kiss her.

 **A/N: Omg, DragonQueen is finally official. No more Maleficent pining after Regina, no more Regina denying her feelings or rejecting Maleficent's help. Now they can finally work on killing the Night Creatures.**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Shh**

 **A/N: I noticed I got a guest review on chapter seven asking why Maleficent calls Regina 'beastie'. The answer to that is, in the Maleficent movie starring Angelina Jolie, Maleficent nicknames Aurora 'beastie'. I thought that would be a fitting nickname for OUAT's Maleficent to call Regina, along with numerous other nicknames such as 'little one', 'little queen', and 'dear'.**

 **As for all of the other reviews I've gotten on this story, I'd like to thank you all and I'm glad everyone reading this likes it.**

Chapter Ten:

The next day, after spending around an hour in Regina's secret room then meeting the others at Granny's, both women went their separate ways with the plan to meet up again tomorrow. Regina knew Henry wouldn't mind if Maleficent stayed the night at theirs, but there would also be some questions and 'knowing glances' every now and then from her son, and she didn't think she could handle that just yet. With that in mind, Regina had gone to the mansion whilst Maleficent 'poofed' to her room at Granny's to meet up with Lily who she hadn't seen in a few days.

The day to meet Maleficent couldn't have come quick enough for Regina. She was grateful when it did because whilst she _could_ have just messaged or called Maleficent, the other woman wasn't really a tech whiz. She barely knew how to unlock her phone, let alone answer it. Regina couldn't be sure the blonde wouldn't scorch her phone at the sound of a notification should she send her a message.

She would have to teach Maleficent how to use her phone, she thinks absently as she slips into her black stilletos. They aren't too high that she'll fall and they aren't too short that she'll look like a high school teacher that had recently divorced her husband. She silently laughs at that, picking up her purse.

When she leaves her bedroom and reaches the bottom of the stairs, she stops at the mirror and gives her appearance a once over. She pulls her liptick out of her purse and applies a quick coat before smiling in satisfaction.

Just as she's about to leave the mansion, Henry calls her name from behind her. She turns around to see her son running down the stairs with a smile on his face and his backpack slung over his shoulder. When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he walks over to her, "can I come with you to Granny's?" He asks eagerly.

"I'm going to meet Maleficent. I thought you didn't want to come?" She questions back.

"I changed my mind," he decides, still grinning.

She nods, "okay, then, let's go," she agrees, already turning around and leaving their house. Henry follows closely behind, closing and locking the door for her.

oOoOoOo

They arrive at Granny's at nine am exactly and Regina inwardly smiles at their punctuality. There is nothing she hates more than being late. Regina locks the car door and lets Henry lead the way into the diner since he's so eager to get inside and order something. She follows him in and over to a table he seems to be set on. When he moves out of the way, she realises it's because Maleficent is sat at the table he's heading towards. The blonde is sat at the furthest table booth by the window, looking out of said window though Regina knows Mal is aware she and Henry have entered.

Henry quickly sits down at the booth across Maleficent, right in the centre of the seat meaning Regina has to sit across from him next to Maleficent. She was a tad annoyed but doesn't complain, inwardly she's actually grateful to be able to sit next to her new-found, secret girlfriend. Though it seemed Henry knew something was going on between the two. Or maybe he doesn't, but knew how much Regina likes the dragon.

Maleficent is already looking away from the view outside the window and is now looking at both Regina and Henry with a smile. "I see you brought Henry," Maleficent notes, though not unkindly or in a way that suggests she's annoyed. "I hope you don't mind," Henry says, joining the conversation. "No, not at all," Maleficent reassures him with a toothy smile that makes the corners of Regina's lip turn upward slightly.

The three fall into easy conversation and not five minutes later, Ruby walks over to the table with a note pad in hand and her familiar red highlights present in her hair. She grins at the three and asks what she can get them, ready to jot it down. Regina orders a salad and cup of coffee whilst Henry orders a hamburger and chocolate milk. It's much too hot for a hot chocolate right now. Maleficent is visibly confused by Henry's choice of food and decides to order the same, but with a cup of tea instead.

When Ruby walks away, Regina turns to Maleficent with an amused smile on her face. Maleficent notices of course and looks at the brunette, "what?" She questions in confusion as she fiddles with a napkin. "Nothing. It's just, you've been here a while now and you don't know what a hamburger is," she states with a small laugh. Henry laughs, too, and waits for Maleficent's reply. "So?" Maleficent retorts.

"Has Lily not shown you what a hamburger is in the time you've been here?" Regina asks with another laugh.

"No. She never mentioned whatever a hamburger is," Maleficent frowns, obviously trying to figure out why Lily hadn't told her about hamburgers. "You're in for a surprise," Henry pipes up, "they're amazing."

"I'm sure they are, the way you talk about them," Maleficent points out. Both Henry and Regina chuckle at that, and before they know it, Ruby is coming over with their food with the promise to fetch their drinks right away.

oOoOoOo

Half an hour later and the three have finished their food and are chatting away. Talking of this and that, Henry's studies, how things are going being the author, how Lily is coping with her second form. Just little things, and whatever comes to their minds.

Maleficent had enjoyed her hamburger. She had said it was the most enjoyable thing she's ever eaten. 'Why did no one think of this back in the Enchanted Forest?' She had questioned after her second bite. Regina had found her child-like wonder absolutely amusing, and when no one was looking, Henry had snapped a photo of Maleficent eating her first burger. He definitely promised himself he would get more pictures of his mother and Maleficent.

At around eleven am, the Charmings and their daughter and Hook walk into Granny's. Charming is soothing a fussy Neal in his arms whilst Snow keeps glancing over at their son to make sure he's okay.

Maleficent briefly glares at Snow and Charming when Emma spots the three sat at the booth and starts walking over to them, with Hook and the other two following behind. Regina takes hold of her hand under the table to calm her, and luckily it works. Though Snow and Charming were brave enough to own up to their wrongdoing and their daughter brought Lily back to her, she still hasn't quite forgiven the pair.

The four that have just walked in, sit at a table near Regina, Maleficent, and Henry's booth. "Hey, guys. I didn't expect to see you three here," Emma says calmly. She seemed to be a little wary of Regina, unsure whether the other woman had gotten rid of the Night Creature problem or not.

"Hey, ma," Henry greets, drinking some if his chocolate milk. All three still had their drinks, though Maleficent had completely neglected her drink in favour of her hamburger and it had now gone cold. Regina's coffe was also cold, but she hadn't neglected it. "Hey, kid," Emma smiles.

"How you doing, lad?" Hook puts in, resting his hand on the table. "Amazing," Henry tells him honestly, "I've been spending the morning with mom and Maleficent, it's been great so far."

"Oh, yeah?" Huck chuckles at Henry's enthusiasm.

Ruby comes over then and takes the new arrivals' orders. She jots it down and turns her attention to baby Neal. She coos and 'awws' when she sees his chubby cheeks. Snow converses with her best friend for a couple of minutes before Ruby is forced to do her job and take their orders when Granny's calls for her.

When the wolf is gone, Snow turns to her stepmother. "Regina, did anything happen last night?" She asks, referring to the Night Creatures. Concern laces her voice as she searches Regina's face for anything that might give her away, should she lie. "No," she admits, "luckily, no. I haven't seen or felt the Night Creatures since Maleficent purged it from my body," she tells Snow, picking up her cold coffee and taking a sip. She makes a face when she remembers it's cold and slowly puts it down.

"That's a relief. Do you think it's gone?" Emma asks hopefully.

"Of course not. It disappeared before Maleficent could kill it. Just because nothing happened last night, doesn't mean it's gone," she sighs.

"Now that it knows we're after it, it'll be harder to catch it and kill," Maleficent regretfully points out, squeezing Regina's hand under the table. "We need to get rid of it soon. Now that it's got a taste of its host, it's going to try and take you over. That much is obvious from your last 'encounter' with it. It was abke to lure you to the well and go inside of you."

"Yes, I'm not proud of letting it lure me in," Regina admits, rolling her eyes.

"What exactly will it do to Regina if it's able to take over?" Charming cuts in. Maleficent looks over to Charming, and this time it's not with hatred or anger. No, this time it's with sadness and regret. "She will become a shell of her former self. Neither evil nor good. Eventually, she will die when the Night Creatures have used up all of her energy." Emma puts her head in her hands and breathes heavily. Everyone else looks down in resignation.

"We won't let that happen, though. We'll defeat this thing and everything will go back to normal," Snow says determinedly.

"Of course we will," Maleficent agrees, stroking Regina's hand under the table.

Ruby comes over with Snow and Hook's food at that moment and places it on the table in front of them. The two thank Ruby and wait until she's gone until getting back to the conversation. "Until then, we should enjoy the time we have until those _things_ come back for you," Hook says, picking up his grilled cheese and biting into it.

"Yes, we should," Regina states and looks at Maleficent with a smile. Maleficent smiles back and is completely taken by surprise when Regina cups her cheek and kisses her. There are a few gasps, but a second later, the four at the table next to her cheer and congratulate them. "If there's a possibility I'm going to die, I don't want to spend it hiding who I am and who I love," Regina says softly, looking around to see the smiles on her family's face.

"I'm so happy for you two," Snow squeals in delight. Regina chuckles and thanks her while Maleficent only smiles in gratitude.

Henry gets up from his seat accross from the two women and walked around the booth table to wrap his mom in a hug. "You deserve to be happy, mom. And I'm glad you found that happiness in Maleficent," he tells her. Regina feels a lump grow in her throat but swallows it back down.

When everyone has finished telling the two women they're happy for them, Regina checks the time and notices it's was twelve pm. She has a meeting she has to attend in half an hour so she quickly informs the others and stands up. She gives Maleficent a quick peck on the cheek and picks up her purse.

As she's about to leave, Maleficent grabs her wrist and stands up with her. Regina turns around expectantly. "May I accompany you, little one?" She asks. For some reason Maleficent has alway been interested in regina's line of work. Both when she was a Queen and now, as Mayor. "Are you sure? You might get bored," Regina informs seriously.

"I won't, dear. I promise," she smiles. Regina returns it and nods once, "then, by all means. Come with me," she agrees. She then turns to the others, "goodbye," she says. They all say their goodbyes again, but Maleficent says nothing, only follows Regina out of the diner.


End file.
